Taku Forts

"Takou" redirects here. For the village in Burkina Faso, see Takou, Burkina Faso.

The Dagu Forts (Chinese: 大沽炮台; pinyin: Dàgū Pàotái; literally "Taku batteries"), also called the Peiho Forts (Chinese:白河碉堡; pinyin: Báihé Diāobǎo) are forts located by the Hai River (Peiho River) estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.

History

The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing Emperor between 1522 and 1527. Its purpose was to protect Tianjin from attack by wokou sea raiders.

Later, in 1816, the Qing government built the first two forts on both sides of the Haihe estuary in response to increased concerns about seaborne threats from the West. By 1841, in response to the First Opium War, the defensive system in Dagukou was reinforced into a system of five big forts, 13 earthen batteries, and 13 earthworks. In 1851, Imperial Commissioner Sengge Rinchen carried out a comprehensive renovation of the forts, building 6 large forts: two on the south of the estuary, called "Wēi" (威-Might) and "Zhèn"(震-Thunder, Tremor, Quake), three to the north, "Hǎi"(海-sea), "Mén"(门-gate) "Gāo" (高-high), and the sixth, the "Shitoufeng" (石头缝-Stone Seam) Fort, was built on a small ridge on the northern shore. Each fort had 3 large guns and 20 small caliber guns. Forts were constructed of wood, brick and an external curtain of two feet of concrete, the layering designed to avoid spalling and minimize artillery rounds' penetration. The forts were around 10 to 15m high, which located as they were in an exceedingly flat landscape, provided a critical vantage point.

Second Opium War

In 1856, Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and of being engaged in the opium trade. They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. Though the certificate allowing the ship to fly a British flag had expired, there was still an armed response. The British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku Forts in May 1858. In June 1858, at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War, the Treaties of Tianjin were signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade.

In 1859, after China refused to allow the setting up of foreign legations in Beijing, a naval force under the command of British Admiral Sir James Hope attacked the forts guarding the mouth of the Peiho river. During the action Commodore Josiah Tattnall came to the assistance of the British gunboat Pei Tang on August 1, and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21 after which Hospital Apprentice A. Fitzgibbon of the Indian Medical Establishment became the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross at the age of 15 years and 3 months.^[2]. The forts were severely mauled and General Sengge Rinchen's troops were forced to withdraw. On September 26, the force arrived at Beijing and had captured the city by October 13.

Soldiers and sailors who took part in Taku Forts assaults include

• Nathaniel Burslem - August 21, 1860
• Andrew Fitzgibbon - August 21, 1860
• Thomas Lane - August 21, 1860
• John McDougall (VC) - August 21, 1860
• Robert Montresor Rogers - August 21, 1860
• Edward Hobart Seymour - August 21, 1860
• John Worthy Chaplin - August 21, 1860
• Charles Herve Giraud- Surgeon 1860
• A Fitzgibbon - August 21, 1860

Boxer Rebellion

After the Battle of Taku Forts (1900), most of the forts were dismantled when the Eight-Nation Alliance Forces invaded China during the Boxer rebellion (1899–1901). Two forts remain today, one on the southern bank (the former "Wei" fort) and the other on the northern bank of the Haihe (the former "Hai" fort). Dagu Fort (on the southern bank) was repaired in 1988 and opened to the public in June 1997. Land reclamation has left it some considerable distance from the modern shoreline. Its restoration has not returned it to anything like the appearance it would have had when it was an active gun battery (see photo of the aftermath of the 1860 attack), but a number of cannons have been placed in the reconstructed gun embrasures to hint at its former use. An exhibition in Chinese recounts the history of the Opium Wars and the forts' role in them. Unrestored forts are visible to its north from Haifang Road.

Gallery

• 

  Interior of Angle of North Fort Immediately after Its Capture, 21st August, 1860

• 

  View looking north from the gun platform. Modern Tanggu in the background. Taku Fort Museum, Tanggu, China.

• 

  Model of the Taku Forts in the Taku Fort Museum, Tanggu, China.

• 

  Looking at the gun platform from outside the defensive works. Taku Fort Museum, Tanggu, China.

• 

  Dedication plaque Taku Fort Museum. Taku Fort Museum, Tanggu, China.

References

1. ^ memorial paid for by fellow officers is in Eastbourne Parish Church, E Sussex, UK
2. ^ "The Victoria Cross". Imperial War Museum. http://collections.iwm.org.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.941&navId=00g003. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 

External links

• TAKU FORTS 1860
• Thomas Hahn, Beitang Forts near Tianjin (Including Dagu) [1]

Coordinates: 38°58′29.500″N 117°42′43.800″E / 38.974861°N 117.712167°E / 38.974861; 117.712167